Comments on: Service Response Discussion: Government Information http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html Official Blog of the Public Library Association Mon, 14 May 2012 15:08:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Scott Condon http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html/comment-page-1#comment-640 Scott Condon Thu, 02 Nov 2006 05:18:32 +0000 http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html#comment-640 The argument has apparently been made that the Government Information service response should be subsumed under General Information. If that is true, then it seems the Business and Career Information, Consumer Information, and Local History and Genealogy responses should be likewise subsumed. I would counter that, of these responses, Government Information most deserves to retain its standing because of the fact that public libraries were founded to assure that citizens are informed about governmental matters so that we can effectively participate in our democracy. In my opinion, this is one of our most valuable roles. In recent years we have seen extreme changes in terms of misinformation, disinformation, and access to information by and about our government: from foot-dragging in the release of presidential papers to the reclassification of public documents; from closed-door policy sessions with industry insiders to the dismissal of scientific and expert consensus; from domestic spying and data-mining to using federal funds to pay journalists to write propaganda; from gagging reproductive-health speech of international agencies that receive U.S. funds to gagging the speech of U.S. citizens under the Patriot Act. And this is to say nothing of the manipulated intelligence that led to the war in Iraq -- or the culpability of the mainstream media which has too often perpetuated and/or failed to investigate erroneous claims. Now is not the time to abandon this central service response. The argument has apparently been made that the Government Information service response should be subsumed under General Information. If that is true, then it seems the Business and Career Information, Consumer Information, and Local History and Genealogy responses should be likewise subsumed. I would counter that, of these responses, Government Information most deserves to retain its standing because of the fact that public libraries were founded to assure that citizens are informed about governmental matters so that we can effectively participate in our democracy. In my opinion, this is one of our most valuable roles.

In recent years we have seen extreme changes in terms of misinformation, disinformation, and access to information by and about our government: from foot-dragging in the release of presidential papers to the reclassification of public documents; from closed-door policy sessions with industry insiders to the dismissal of scientific and expert consensus; from domestic spying and data-mining to using federal funds to pay journalists to write propaganda; from gagging reproductive-health speech of international agencies that receive U.S. funds to gagging the speech of U.S. citizens under the Patriot Act. And this is to say nothing of the manipulated intelligence that led to the war in Iraq — or the culpability of the mainstream media which has too often perpetuated and/or failed to investigate erroneous claims. Now is not the time to abandon this central service response.

]]> By: Mike Wirt http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html/comment-page-1#comment-611 Mike Wirt Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:23:40 +0000 http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html#comment-611 Agree that it shouldn't be stand-alone. Had much discussion about it during two planning processes and both times concluded that it was a subset of General Information. Agree that it shouldn’t be stand-alone. Had much discussion about it during two planning processes and both times concluded that it was a subset of General Information.

]]> By: Rebecca Bronson http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html/comment-page-1#comment-601 Rebecca Bronson Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:01:23 +0000 http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html#comment-601 I absolutely disagree that this service response should be scrapped and/or rolled into the General Information service response. Information on elected officials from a broad range of viewpoints, in addition to information that governments themselves publish, is absolutely critical for an informed citizenry. Keeping this as a separate service response shows that the library community recognizes the importance of providing solid information on elected officials and the bureaucracies they run as a critical service to the public. I absolutely disagree that this service response should be scrapped and/or rolled into the General Information service response. Information on elected officials from a broad range of viewpoints, in addition to information that governments themselves publish, is absolutely critical for an informed citizenry. Keeping this as a separate service response shows that the library community recognizes the importance of providing solid information on elected officials and the bureaucracies they run as a critical service to the public.

]]> By: PLA Blog » Blog Archive » PLA Service Responses discussion summary, plus deadline extended http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html/comment-page-1#comment-589 PLA Blog » Blog Archive » PLA Service Responses discussion summary, plus deadline extended Fri, 20 Oct 2006 19:28:08 +0000 http://plablog.org/2006/08/service-response-discussion-government-information.html#comment-589 [...] Government Information (0 comments) [...] [...] Government Information (0 comments) [...]

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